AMBIGUOUS RULES OF ENGAGEMENT and the Fallacy of the Green Light

摘要

Ron McCarthy's timeless article "The Command Decision to Shoot a Hostage Taker: How Do We Make It?" appeared in the 1989 winter issue of The Tactical Edge. I think the article should be chiseled into the side of a mountain and every aspiring tactical commander should be required to make a pilgrimage there and read it before assuming command of a team. It has been roughly 40 years since SWAT teams first appeared in American law enforcement. While researching this article, I spoke with Mr. McCarthy and informed him of some of the incidents mentioned in the following pages. He commented "Although 40 years have passed, we are still apparently doing stupid things." His explanation—"People are people and some of them just have a really hard time doing the right thing." He went on to say "The snipers almost always get it right—it's their commanders that get it wrong." As usual, I found myself agreeing with him. But then, I'm a sniper.